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Several Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students on Monday were briefly detained including students union president Aishe Ghosh, after they tried to march towards Parliament on the first day of winter session, demanding a total rollback of the hostel fee hike. They were released later in the evening.
The police also escorted office-bearers of the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) to meet the HRD secretary after hundreds of protestors camped outside the Safdarjung tomb in the national capital. The protesters were allegedly forced to clear the area by the police, news agency PTI reported. Students also took to social media to share pictures of the march and of injuries they received allegedly in a lathicharge by police.
For the past three weeks, students have been protesting inside the administration block of the university against the increase in hostel fee, even though JNU announced a rollback last Wednesday. The union said it will be a march to save public education and appeal to MPs to take up the cause.
Earlier in the day, demanding a “complete” rollback of the hostel fee, the protest march started from the university campus towards the Parliament amid heavy police deployment. Carrying placards and chanting slogans, the students marched towards Parliament but were stopped by the police.
Hundreds of police personnel stood on the Baba Ganganath Marg, around 600 metres from the main gate of the university and blocked the oncoming group of students from moving ahead.
Several leaders of the agitation were detained by police when they insisted on marching forward. The barricades were removed after sometime and the students were allowed to march, but only to be stopped near Safdarjung tomb.
Demanding release of those detained and a meeting with top officials, the students sat on protest near Delhi’s Safdarjung Tomb. The top brass of Delhi police tried to initiate a dialogue with them but later resorted to lathicharge the students, a charge they categorically denied in a statement later.
“There was no use of water cannons, tear gas shells or lathi-charge at any stage of the protest. Women staff were deployed in adequate numbers to deal with female protesters. Apart from 10 companies of CAPF, around 800 Delhi Police personnel were deployed to handle the protest and ensure the maintenance of law and order,” the police said.
The police also alleged that the protest was blocking the way for an ambulance on Safdurjung road. They said that they had asked the students to sit in a row and clear the rest of the passage for vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Teachers Association of the University announced that they will be staging a protest Tuesday against the “police brutality” and demand the VC’s resignation. The body also said the venue for the protest would be announced after consultation with JNUSU.
Traffic and Metro services were affected in part of Lutyen’t Delhi due to the protest. Vehicles were seen moving at a snail’s pace on Nelson Mandela Marg, Aurobindo Marg and Baba Gang Nath Marg during the day.
The entry and exit points of three Delhi Metro stations near Parliament were shut down temporarily and trains did not halt at Udyog Bhawan and Patel Chowk. The services resumed four hours later.
(Inputs from PTI)
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